A Game of two halves

This was the proverbial game of two halves for Novos, an excellent 1st half display saw them leading until Horden came back strongly in the 2nd half.

Novos were in put in disarray before kick off when 2 late back row withdrawals left us short of cover and with the 2nds not having a game there was no time to call up replacements, Dave Addison and Adam Longstaff stepped in to fill the void on the bench while hooker Ben Walker moved into Blindside. Nobodies fault this time but again Novos were forced into a less than ideal preparation for a game against a good and aggressive Horden side.

The pitch was in perfect nick and the early chill seemed to lift meaning conditions were perfect for running rugby. The game kicked off and immediately Horden showed their intent chasing down the kick off and putting immediate pressure on the catcher, Merrett did really well to gather under pressure and Novos secured early possession. Horden’s defence was the most aggressive we have seen this season, they worked really hard to press Novos whenever we were in possession and when they tackled, they tackled hard! Still Novos started to make inroads, Ben Walker was having a superb game in the freedom of the back row and Novos were beginning to rattle that defence.

Finally on 15 minutes a Ben Walker led drive saw Horden desperately fly in from the side of the ruck which gave Novos a penalty, Graham Jardine stepped up to slot three points and give Novos a lead they deserved. Moments later stunning break from Centre Matty Bradford saw him streak away down the blindside and out strip the full back to give Novos a try and an 0 – 8 lead, Jardine was unable to add another 2 from the boot.

Horden came back strongly and used their weighty forwards to batter at Novos line but Novos repeatedly kept them out until the 30th minute when a maul was driven over from 5 yards, Horden’s kicker was able to add to it with the conversion and cut Novos lead.

The final ten minutes of the half saw a flurry of activity, both sides running the ball at every opportunity and it was Bradford again who made the decisive break, Ben Walker on hand to support and run through the full back before offloading to Skipper Jamie Wallace who passed out of the last tackle to Ben Merrett who scored Novos second. Leading 7 – 13 approaching half time and Novos looked good to get something from the game.

Almost on the stroke of half time though hung the games turning point, Ben Merrett harshly yellow carded for holding on at the ruck gave Horden an easy 3 points to cut Novos lead going into the break and reduce Novos to 14 for the opening 10 minutes of the 2nd half.

During the opening 10 minutes of that 2nd half Horden scored a lovely try from their full back to regain the lead, this picked them up and unfortunately sapped confidence from Novos young team. Life at the bottom of the league is tough and at times can be cruel, after 50 minutes of being the better side Novos were suddenly behind and chasing the game. Novos youngsters visibly lost confidence and whilst the commitment and effort for the remainder of the game can not be questioned it did inhibit the performance with a reluctance to try things that were being tried in a more successful first half.

To be fair to Horden, they also grew in stature in a final 30 minutes that saw them run in a further three tries and notch a further penalty quite how they are not higher in the league is a puzzle.

One bright note from the day was the 1st team league debut of Adam Longstaff who replaced James Parkinson on 75 minutes, Adam has been at Novos for 15 years and plays most of his rugby for the Centurians but there can have been no-one prouder than him on Saturday as he marked his league debut with a superb tackle on his opposite number.

Well done Adam!

Next up is Gosforth at home in the Ringtons tea cup – time for boys to become men!